Armor-piercing projectile.



H B. STRANGE. ARMOR PIERCING PROJECTILE. APPLICATION FILED mus. 1914;

Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

2 $HEETS-SHEET1).

a M v WW H. B. STRANGE. ARMOR PIERCING PROJECTILE; APPLlCATlON FILED APR.25| 1914.

Patented Aug; 10, 1915.

2 SHEETS-5HEET 2.

A m E W HARRY BLAND STRANGE. OF BLACKHEATH, E1\"GLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THOS. FIRTH AND SONS, LIMITED, OF SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND.

ABMOR-PIERCING PB OJECTILE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented An 10, 1915.

Application filed. April 25. 1914. Serial No. 834,505.

To all whom 1' t M ay concern Be it known that I, HARRY Brawn STRANGE, subject of the King of England, residing at Blackheath, Kent. in England, have invented certain new. and useful 11nprovements in Armor-Piercing; Projectiles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to armor-piercing projectiles and has for its object to improve the penetrating qualities of pointed nosed projectiles of the type in which the point is covered by a cap which in turn is gencraliy' inclosed in or has mounted on its face a hollow casing.

According to this invention a projectile is provided with a built-up cap which comprises concentric inner and outer portions the inner por on having a nose which forms a central protrusion. The nose of the inner cap member or the whole of that member may be hardened and tempered.

In a cap thus made advantage is taken of the fact that the caps of modern armorpiercing projectiles are considerably heavier relatively to the projectile proper than was formerly the case. Hence, the energy stored in the cap itself is an appreciable factor and this ener y is utilized. to cause the nose of the cap to have some destructive effect on the armor plate attacked. It may be said that the whole cap acts as if it was a small projectile fired at the face of the plate, the

projectile itself, striking in the spot which has already been damaged by the heavy cap, effects perforation of the plate with a minimum of damage to its point. The nose of the inner cap may be broken up on or immediately after impact or in some cases it may be displaced or deformed, but in any case its action is intended to be preparatory to that of the-point of the projectile proper.

The outer cap member may in some cases be built up of two or more concentric members and while its forward portion constitutes mainly what may betermed and in some instances may be regarded as'the true face of the cap the remainder provides sup port for the inner cap and for that part of the head of the projectile which lies to the rearward of the part which is inclosed in the inner cap.

The nose of the inner cap may be of any suitable shape but when, as is sometimesdesirable, it has a pointed ogival form, a suitably thick layer of relatively soft and ductile material such. for instance as that of which the outer cap member is formed is disposed over or in front of the pointed nose of the inner cap member so as to form a supplementary cap. Such a supplementary cap may be used whatcvm the shape of the protruding nose of the inner cap, but it is primarily intended for use when that nose pointed to give the point additional support on impact in a manner similar to that in which the metal forming the mass of the main cap supports the pointed end of the projectile proper.

hen a supplementary ap is employed it may be disposed or formed in various ways. Thus for example. it may be actually mounted 011 the nose of the inner cap member so as to cover ore and incase it and either be formed integral with the outer cap member or be applied and attached to the face of this outer cap member through which face the nose of the inner cap protrudes. Alternatively where. as is desirable, a hollow nose or casing covers over the ho low face of the cap the supplementary cap may form an integral part of this hollow casing or be mounted therein or attached thereto in some convenient manner. In this case the supplementary cap is not directly in contact with the nose of the inner cap member which protrudes from the, surrounding true face of the outer cap member but is positioned somewhat in ad vance of the nose of the inner cap member. Thus for example. the forward end of the hollow casing may be substantially thickened to form the supplementary cap which thus is integral with and formed of metal having the same qualities as that employed in the construction of the hollow casing. the latter being attached to and mounted on the outer cap member in some convenient manner The accompanying drawings are longitudinal central sections through the front portions of 'arious constructions of projectiles all according to this invention.

in Figure 1 the pointed ogrival nose A of the projectile is furnished with an inner cap member l surrounded by an annular concentric outer cap member t. The nose of the inner member B protrudes beyond the face of the built-up cap I. c. the face i" of the outer cap member in this form the hollow nose or casing l) is sclcwcd on to the outer cap member C. In this figure, as in all the other figures, cross-hatching on a part or the Whole of the inner cap indicates by way of example, that the part so marked is hardened and tempered.

The cap illustrated in Fig. 2 is generally similar-to that described with reference to Fig. 1 except that the nose of the inner cap B is extended through the space inclosed by the casing D and fills a central hole leftin the end of that vmember.

in Fig. 3

a projectile is shown in which f i the inner cap member B provides the greater 1 part of the whole weight of the cap. In-

this term theouter cap member C is attached to the inner cap and does not/itself extend back into contact with the shoulders of the projectile proper. As in Figs. 1 and 2 the hollow nose D is secured to the outer cap member.

The projectile illustrated in Fig. 4 difiers from those already described by having the hardened protruding nose B of the inner .eap B pointed and inorder that this point member built up of two concentric annular portions C and C 1 ln the projectile illustrated in Fig. 6 the I inner cap member B is hardened and temper-ed all over as shown by the cross-hatching. it has a pointed nose protruding beyond the plane of the true face of the cap.

plementary cap C which, in this example,

is integral with the outer cap member in contact w th the point of the mner cap. As in the construction illustrated" in 'Fig. 3, the outer cap member is attached to the inner cap member and the hollow nose or casing l) is formed separately from the outer cap member to which it is attached by a screw joint.

The projectile shown in Fig. 7 has a pointed inner cap hardened all oveitas in Fig; 6, but the weight of the inner cap relatively to that or the outer cap is smaller in Fig. 7 than in Fig. 6 and the outer cap ther feature of the projectile i lustrated in Fig. '7 is that the supplementary cap 0 is formed separately from the outer cap member {3 instead of being made integral with it.

it will be noticed that in all the constructions where the inner cap member B. has a hardened pointed nose a supplementary cap is rovi-dedin some form or another. The

in'is pointed extremity is covered by a sup terial. This facilitates the fitting of the two port to the pointof the innercap while it is doing its preparatory work-on. the armor;

plate;

When the whole of the inner "cap. member is hardened, as for example in the constructions shown in F igsr 6 and 7,its internal surface may be separated from the hard pointed nose of the projectile proper by a thin layer of soft steel or other suitable maparts' and tends to-distributethestress bee tweenthe. two hardened members.

- Although certain of the figures ShOW the inner cap having its nose hardened, it is. to; be understood that the hardened nose .or point may, if desired, be formed separately from the other part of the inner capto which it may be fastened by any suitable mechanical means.

The detail form of the members of which the complete cap is built up may vary to suit requirements but it will be appreciated that the improved construction enables the inner cap to be made of any metal most suited to fulfil the object to be attained-by the pro j truding nose whether this noseis-hardened formed of metal having other physical properties which will make it best suited to do the work which it is to be called upon to perform. Thus, for example, the inner cap may bemade of nickel-chrome steel while the outer member can be formed of mild steel, but it is to be understood that if desired. both cap members may be con- ,or not, while the. outer member can bestructed of mild steel, or both .of nickelchrome steel. I The relative dimensions of the parts con-y stituting the builtupca.p and more par-- ticularly the amount of hardened and relativelysoft metal covering the pointof the projectile may vary in accordance with r'e-j quirements and the nature. ofthe objective plateattacked. v

hat I claim as my; invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1.- In combinationwith an. armor-piercing projectile havinganfogival point to the pic jectile proper, a cap bui lt' up over said ogiv al v metal in Fig. 7 extends down on to the shoulders of the projectile pro er. A fun oint and com risin an'innermember'and r an outer member, both; 'members'formed-of steel or an alloy thereof,,the*inner member having a nose which protrudes centrally beyond the main face of the cap, 'anda hollow casing disposed over the cap.

2. In combination with an armor-piercing projectile having an ogival point to the, pro-v jectile proper, a cap built up over said ogival point and comprising an inner member and an outer member concentric to the inner member, both members formed of steel or an alloy thereof, the inner member having -a 'nosewhich protrudes centrallyv beyond the v object this is to give some amount oifis'upe outer concentric. member, and a'hollowncasing-disposed over thecap.

3. Incombination with an armor-piercing projectile having an ogival point to the proectile proper, a cap built up over said ogival point and comprising an inner member and an outer member, both members formed of steel or an alloy thereof, the inner member having a nose which is hardened and tem- V pered and which protrudes centrally beyond the main face of the cap, and a hollow casing disposed over the cap.

4. In combination with an armor-piercing projectile having an ogival point to the pro jectile proper, a cap for said projectile, comprising an inner part which covers the ogival point and has a projection which protrudes centrally beyond the main face of the cap, said projection arranged for deformation on impact before the cap metal lying around and to the rear of the point is displaced, and an outer part providing a support for the inner part of the cap and also for that part of the head of the projectile which lies toe the rearward of the point ihclosed in said inner part, and a hollow casing disposed over the cap.

5. In an armor-piercing projectile a builtup cap comprising an inner portion of steel or an alloy thereof hardened and tempered at the nose and an outer concentric portion also of steel or an alloy thereof but soft relatively to the inner portion, the nose of the inner portion protruding beyond the true face of the cap which is formed mainly by the annular outer portion.

6. In an armor-piercing projectile a builtup cap comprising an inner portion and an outer annular portion composed of a plurality of concentric parts the nose of the inner portion protruding beyond the true face of the cap which is formed mainly by the annular outer portion.

7. In an armor-piercing projectile the combination with a built-up cap comprising concentric inner and outer portions the inner portion being wholly hardened and tempered and having its nose shaped so as to protrude centrally beyond the main face of the cap, said main face being formed by the outer concentric portion of the cap, of a supplementary cap of relatively soft material disposed over the protruding nose of the inner cap member. 8. In an armor -piercing projectile the combination with a built-up cap comprising concentric inner and outer portions the inner portion being wholly hardened and tempered and having its nose shaped so as to protrude centrally beyond the main face of the cap, said main face being formed by the outer concentric portion of the cap, of a supplementary cap of relatively soft material disposed over the protruding nose of the inner cap member such supplementary cap being integral with the outer cap memher. I

9. In an armorpiercing projectile the combination with a built-up cap comprising concentric inner and outer portions the nose of the inner portion forming a central protrusion, of a hollow nose or casing and a supplementary cap in front of the point of the inner cap such supplementary cap being carried by the hollow nose or casing.

10. In an armor-piercing projectile the combination with a built-up cap comprising concentric inner and outer portions the nose of the inner portion forming a central protrusion, of a hollow nose or casing and a supplementary cap in front of the point of the inner cap such supplementary cap being integral with the hollow nose or casing.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARRY BLAND STRANGE.

l/Vitnesses:

MARGARETT BASHAM, ANNIE PHILPOTT.

Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latentissv Washington, D. C. 

